Indiana State has been picked in a poll of league head coaches to win the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference baseball title. The Sycamores are defending regular-season and tournament champions. ISU received 95 total points and eight of 10 first-place tallies in this season's poll, while Missouri State and Evansville earned the other two first-place votes. The Bears finished second in this year's poll with 89 points, while Evansville is in the No. 3 spot with 81 points.

Murray State (4th, 67 points) and Southern Illinois (5th, 63 points) are tightly bunched for the next two spots, followed by Belmont (6th, 40), Illinois State (7th, 39), UIC (8th, 34), Valparaiso (9th, 22), and Bradley (10th, 20).



The 2024 season will be the last for Missouri State head coach Keith Guttin as he wraps up an incredible 42-year career in charge of the Bears. With 1,373 career victories, Guttin enters the year ranked second among active Division I head coaches (five behind Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall) and 12th on the all-time wins list.

Evansville, meanwhile, faced Indiana State in the 2023 MVC Tournament Championship game and concluded the 2023 season with a 37-24 overall record. The 37 victories are the most at Evansville since 2006, and the Purple Aces advanced to the MVC Tournament final for the first time since 2006. The Aces will host the 2024 MVC Baseball Championship at German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

Indiana State (5) and Missouri State (4) dominate the selections to the 14-player pre-season team, selected by league coaches. Murray State (2), Evansville (1), Southern Illinois (1), and Valparaiso (1) also had representation on the league's preseason unit.